FCC may play Robin Hood taking form rich broadcasters and giving to the poor mobile broadband providers

The FCC is considering many ways to
increase the amount of available wireless spectrum to be had for
wireless broadband service. According to the FCC and others, the
country is already facing a looming shortage of airwaves to support
broadband.

One of the plans on the table for the FCC to
consider would have it taking
back a portion of the airwaves that TV broadcasters are currently
using and auctioning those off to wireless broadband providers. Blair
Levin, the person in charge of crafting the FCC national broadband
plan said, "The record is very clear that we're facing a looming
spectrum gap."

It is not clear at this early stage if the
proposal to take some of the airwaves away from TV broadcasters will
make it to the final FCC national broadband plan or not. The final
plan is set to be released in January. What is clear is that if the
taking back of broadcaster airwaves does make the final plan,
broadcasters will fight.

The National Association of
Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton said, "[The NAB] believes
it is imperative that policy makers explore spectrum efficiency
choices that don't limit consumer access to the full potential of
digital broadcasting."

The FCC would not simply take the
airwaves away and would reportedly spend about $12 billion to buy the
airwaves back and $9 billion to move homes using OTA TV to digital or
subscription services. However, the auction for the reclaimed
spectrum would net the FCC as much as $62 billion.

The homes
relying on these airwaves are also likely to be among those that just
purchased new TVs or converter boxes during the digital
transition that happened this summer adding more confusion and
expense for them. Wharton continued saying, "CEA's study ignores
the immeasurable public benefit of a vibrant free and local
broadcasting system that is ubiquitous, reliable as a lifeline
service in times of emergency, and flexible enough to include HDTV,
diverse multicast programming and mobile DTV."

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